The Advocate

“No one likes this process,” said Robert Silverman, president of MHCC. “There is no joy here because there will always be people who will be hurt and there will be those who feel they have not been treated fairly.”
Students enrolled in any of the eliminated programs will be able to finish their coursework either here or at another institution, and then the programs will be completely phased out.

“We’re obligated to do the teach out,” said Silverman, stressing, “We don’t want to hurt students if we can help it.”
According to Al Sigala, the college will try to help the aviation program instructors – all of whom are serving on a part-time basis – but said the college is not required to re-staff or redistribute instructors who teach less than full time once their programs are eliminated.

“Programs up for elimination will save the district around $400,000,” said Gary Murph, VP of Administration, in a presentation prior to the board’s’ vote. “The $400,000 represents the savings from expenditures.”
But, said Murph, “We didn’t calculate” the loss of student tuition and state reimbursement.

Brian Freeman, chairman of the board, said, “With teach-out and tuition loss and reduced state reimbursement, we aren’t going to realize that entire amount.”
“We could be wrong,” admitted board member Duke Shepard regarding the long-term results of the program cuts, agreeing that full-time enrollment may decline, though there is no way to say, now, what will happen.

Silverman said, “Unfortunately, the elimination process will have to begin pretty quickly,” a view mirrored by the board in response to Murph’s presentation.

“We take all the immeasurable ramifications into account. We can’t base a decision on that, but we can take it into consideration,” said Shepard.
Still, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s proposed budget casts a shadow on the next biennium.

“If the governor’s budget were enacted, we’d have gigantic problems,” said Silverman. “We are looking at a $1.86 million shortfall for next year.”
Under Kulongoski’s proposed budget, MHCC will see a decrease instate funding compared to the last biennium, an amount that prompted Silverman to say, several times during the meeting, “$440 [million] or fight,” alluding both to the administration’s view that community colleges in Oregon are being under funded and the level at which Silverman believes community colleges would be most benefited.

“The state allocation to community colleges is at $388 million now,” said Silverman. “But we really need them to get it all the way back to $440 million, which was the 2001 level of funding.”

During the last biennium, MHCC saw a 10 percent reduction in state funding, resulting in program and administrative cuts.

Ralph Yates, a board member, said the college is operating at a record-low administrative staff levels.

“I want everybody to know out there what [the board has] been going through,” said Yates, adding, “and I’m telling you, the next two years aren’t going to be pretty.”

Freeman said, “A tuition increase is not really an option. We have pushed the students to their limit.” He said the board has raised tuition from $37 a credit to $63in three years.

According to Carol Nielson-Hood, “MHCC has the second highest tuition rates of the 17 Oregon community colleges.”

After the meeting, horticulture student Jim Tinner disagreed with the college’s financial assesment of cutting the horticulture program. “Those numbers aren’t accurate,” he said.

Tinner said the ‘hort’ program has more than 65 students, a level of enrollment that generates “over $100,000.” He said the board’s reasoning behind their votes was “something else.”

Asked by fellow ‘hort’ student Dennis Jones whether he would come back to MHCC, Tinner said, “No, I will not come back. When [Silverman] talked about building solid marketing, he lied.”

Bud Khuth, ASG president, believes the board “did all they could to help sustain the level that we were at, but decisions have to be made.”

“I honestly think they did everything they could,” said Khuth, adding, “They went through different avenues to try and sustain it. I can’t say to what depth [because] I’m not actively in their circle of information.”

Khuth said students should “get more involved at the state level, because it’s at the state level that kinda’ begins the whole process of dismantling the college.”

“If you were hurt by anything, if you are affected at all by anything, it could partly be your fault for not taking more action, by not more actively involving yourself in community college politics,” said Khuth. “Decreased state funding means we have to do what we just did – cut programs, cut sections, cut teachers.”

The college’s reserve or “rainy day” fund could prove to be paramount, if sustainable, in the coming biennium.

The board agreed to maintain the reserve at five percent, roughly $4 to $5 million in anticipation of the budget problems, citing program cuts as one of the ways the college could keep the reserve at desired levels.

“Once you lose your reserve,” said Shepard, “it never comes back.”